Ascend X
Coverd
A Story of Success in Social FinTech
Before Ascend
Coverd is a gamified personal finance platform that
helps users manage their finances with a fun twist: real-
money gaming!
When we connected, they faced uncertainty:
Their TestFlight app was live, but it was still early: buggy,
experimental, and in need of clear user feedback
How would Gen Z receive the concept?
Which features would resonate most?
What would be their true differentiator?
Our Approach
E s t a b l i s h e d c a m p u s p r e s e n c e
G a r n e r e d 1 5 0 0 + a p p l i c a t i o n s
U s e d a 3 - s t a g e i n t e r v i e w p r o c e s s
R e c r u i t e d t o p s t u d e n t t a l e n t
R a n 6 - w e e k t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m
D i d h u n d r e d s o f u s e r i n t e r v i e w s
S h a r e d d o c u m e n t e d f i n d i n g s
F i n d c o n s e n s u s a m o n g s t i n s i g h t s
L e d w e e k l y p r o d u c t c a l l s
G a v e a c t i o n a b l e p r o d u c t i n s i g h t s
D e t e r m i n e d C o v e r d s g o a l s
A s s e m b l e d 1 0 - p e r s o n t e a m
A s s i g n e d p r o j e c t m a n a g e r
I n t e g r a t e d t e a m i n t o p r o d u c t
E n g a g e m e n t k i c k - o f f
I t e r a t e d a l o n g s i d e c l i e n t t e a m
M a i n t a i n e d w e e k l y c a d e n c e
A c t e d a s a n e x t e n s i o n o f C o v e r d
R e p l a c e d d o u b t w i t h c o n f i d e n c e
B u i l d f a s t e r t h a n e v e r b e f o r e
P r e - E n g a g e m e n t
P u t T e a m T o W o r k
S e t - U p T e a m
I t e r a t e W / Y o u r I C P
All it took from Coverd was joining four one-hour calls we handled
60+ hours of research, 100+ interviews, and every insight in between.
FROM THE FOUNDERS
“Early feedback is super helpful because once we ship a
design, it’s hard and costly to change, especially if key
features were missed. Catching those things early saves a
lot of back and forth.”
“You're providing a group of interviewees who actually
reflect the user, and that's why it's valuable. A lot of people
think they understand their users, but they really don't, I
guess not like this.”
“There are a lot of companies selling services to startups
and, you know, we run into them all the time, but you guys
are probably the best we’ve experienced.”
COVERD TODAY
Coverd recently raised a $7.8M seed round
from top VCs and will continue to use
Ascend to build a valuable, exciting, and
intuitive experience for the fastest-growing
consumer segment: Gen-Z.
Interested in doing the same?
Book a Call Today
Will@ascendgroup.co | www.ascendgroup.co